Mufaro’s Beautiful
Daughters
An Africa Tale
Written by JOHN STEPTOE
A LONG TIME AGO, in a certain place in Africa, a small
village lay across a river and half a day’s journey from a
city where a great king lived. A man named Mufaro liven in
this village with his two daughters, who were called
Manyara and Nyasha. Everyone agreed that Manyara and
Nyasha were very beautiful.
Manyara was almost always in a bad temper. She teased
her sister whenever their father’s back was turned, and
she had been heard to day, “Someday, Nyasha, I will be a
queen, and you will be a servant in my household.”
“If that should come to pass,” Nyasha responded, “I will
be pleased to serve you. But why do you say such things?
You are clever and strong and beautiful. Why are you so
unhappy?”
“Because everyone talks about how kind you are, and they
praise everything you do,” Manyara replied. “I’m certain
that Father loves you best. But when I am a queen,
everyone will know that your silly kindness is only
weakness.”
Nyasha was sad that Manyara felt this way, but she
ignored her sister’s words and went about her chores.
Nyasha kept a small plot of land, on which she grew millet,
sunflowers, yams, and vegetables. She always sang as she
worked, and some said it was her sing that made her crops
more bountiful than anyone else’s.
1
One day, Nyasha noticed a small garden snake resting
beneath a yam vine. “Good day, little Nyoka,” she called to
him. “You are welcome here. You will keep way any
creatures who might spoil my vegetables.” She bent
forward, gave the little snake a loving pat on the head,
and then returned to her work.
From that day on, Nyoka was always at Nyasha’s side when
she tended her garden. It was said that she sang all the
more sweetly when he was there.
Mufaro knew nothing of how Manyara treated Nyasha.
Nyasha was too considerate of her father’s feelings to
complain, and Manyara was always careful to behave
herself when Mufaro was around.
Early one morning, a messenger from the city arrived. The
Great King wanted a wife. “The Most Worthy and
Beautiful Daughters in the Land are invited to appear
before the King, and he will choose one to become Queen!”
the messenger proclaimed.
Mufaro called Manyara and Nyasha to him. “It would be a
great honour have one of you chosen,” he said. “Prepare
yourselves to journey to the city. I will call together all
our friends to make a wedding party. We will leave
tomorrow as the sun rises.”
2
“But, my father,” Manyara said sweetly, “it would be
painful for either of us to leave you, even to be wife to
the king. I know Nyasha would grieve to death if she were
parted from you. I am strong. Send me to the city, and let
poor Nyasha be happy here with you.”
Mufaro beamed with pride. “The king has asked for the
most worthy and the most beautiful. No, Manyara, I
cannot send you alone. Only a king can choose between two
such worthy daughters. Both of you must go!”
That night, when everyone was asleep, Manyara stole
quietly out of the village. She had never been in the
forest at night before, and she was frightened, but her
greed to be e first to appear before the king drove her
on. In her hurry, she almost stumbled over a small boy
who suddenly appeared, standing in the path.
“Pleas,” said the boy. “I am hungry. Will you give me
something to eat?”
“I have brought only enough for myself,” Manyara replied.
“But, please” said the boy. “I am so very hungry.”
“Out of my way, boy! Tomorrow I will become your queen.
How dare you stand in my path?”
After traveling for what seemed to be a great distance,
Manyara came to a small clearing. There, silhouetted
against the moonlight, was an old woman seated on a large
stone.
The old woman spoke. “I will give you some advice,
Manyara. Soon after you pass the place where two paths
cross, you will see a grove of trees. They will laugh at you.
You must not laugh in return. Later, you will meet a man
with his head under his arm. You must be polite to him.”
“How do you know my name? How dare you advise your
future queen? Stand aside, you ugly old woman!” Manyara
scolded, and then rushed on her way without looking back.
3
Just as the old woman had foretold, Manyara came to a
grove of trees, and they did indeed seem to be laughing at
her.
“I must be calm,” Manyara thought. “I will not be
frightened.”
She looked up at the trees and laughed out loud. “I laugh
at you, trees!” she shouted, and she hurried on.
It was not yet dawn when Manyara heard the sound of
rushing water. “The river must be up ahead,” she thought.
“The great city is just on the other side.”
But there, on the rise, she saw a man with his head tucked
under his arm. Manyara ran past him without speaking. “A
queen acknowledges only those who please her,” she said
to herself.
“I will be queen. I will be queen,” she chanted, as she
hurried on toward the city.
Nyasha woke at the first light of dawn. As she put on her
finest garments, she thought how her life might be
changed forever beyond this day. “I’d much prefer to live
here,” she admitted to herself. “I’d hate to leave this
village and never see my father or sing to little Nyoka
again.”
Her thoughts were interrupted by loud shouts and a
commotion from the wedding party assembled outside.
Manyara was missing! Everyone bustled about, searching
and calling for her. When they found her footprints on
the path that led to the city, they decided to go on as
planned.
4
As the wedding party moved through the forest, brightly
plumed birds darted about in the cool green shadows
beneath the trees. Though anxious about her sister,
Nyasha was soon filled with excitement about all there
was to see.
They were deep in the forest when she saw the small boy
standing by the side of the path.
“You must be hungry,” she said, and handed him a yam she
had brought for her lunch. The boy smiled and
disappeared as quietly as he had come.
Late, as they were approaching the place where the two
paths crossed, the old woman appeared and silently
pointed the way to the city. Nyasha thanked her and gave
her small pouch filled with sunflower seeds.
The sun was high in the sky when the party came to the
grove of towering trees. Their uppermost branches
seemed to bow down to Nyasha as she passed beneath
them.
At last, someone announced that they were near their
destination.
Nyash ran ahead and topped the rise before the others
could catch up with her. She stood transfixed at her first
sight of the city.
“Oh, my father,” she called. “A great spirit must stand
guard here! Just look at what lies before us. I never in all
my life dreamed there could be anything so beautiful!”
Arm in arm, Nyasha and her father descended the hill,
crossed the river, and approached the city gate. Just as
they entered through the great doors, the air was rent by
piercing cries, and Manyara ran wildly out of a chamber at
the centre of the enclosure. When she was Nyasha, she
fell upon her, sobbing.
“Do not go to the king, my sister. Oh, please, Father, do
not let her go!” she cried hysterically. “There’s great
monster there, a snake with five heads! He said that he
5
knew all my faults and that I displeased him. He would
have swallowed me alive if I had not run. Oh, my sister,
please do not go inside that place.”
It frightened Nyasha to see her sister so upset. But,
leaving her father to comfort Manyara, she bravely made
her way to the chamber and opened the door.
On the seat of the great chief’s stool lay the little garden
snake.
Nyasha laughed with relief and joy.
“My little friend!” she exclaimed. “It’s such a pleasure to
see you, but why are you here?”
“I am the king,” Nyoka replied.
And there, before Nyasha’s eyes, the garden snake
changed shape.
“I am the king. I am also the hungry boy with whom you
shared a yam in the forest and the old woman to whom you
made a gift of sunflower seeds. But you know me best as
Nyoka. Because I have been all of these, I know you to be
the Most Worthy and Most Beautiful Daughter in the
Land. It would make me very happy if you would be my
wife.”
And so it was that, a long time ago, Nyasha agreed to be
married. The King’s mother and sisters took Nyasha to
their house, and the wedding preparations began. The
best weavers in the land laid out their finest cloth for her
wedding garments. Villagers from all around were invited
to the celebration, and a great feast was held. Nyasha
prepared the bread for the wedding feast from millet
that had been brought from her village.
Mufaro proclaimed to all who would hear him that he was
the happiest father in all the land, for he was blessed
6
with two beautiful and worthy daughters – Nyasha, the
queen; and Manyara, a servant in the queen’s household.
[end]
7